Beyond the KTV parlors and neon cocktail lounges, China has a nightlife culture for those looking for something rougher around the edges. When I was living in China when the term diaosi (loser, underdog) was a title taken with pride. It was to be understated, hip, and carefree. Diaosi around…
Chengdu, The Little Panda is All Grown Up
I left China in June 2012 and started working on Laowhy: Identity Crises In China’s Capital of Spice while I was a substitute high school teacher. Stuck in rural America I longed to return to China, but couldn’t bear what the urban environment and cultural psyche had done to my…
From Shrekking to Trekking- One Year Review
It’s been a wild year and I’ll return with more content soon dear reader, but let’s put a cap on these gains. While the updates fell off mid-year, the persistence did not. I am proud to say that I have become more of an alpine athlete and less of a…
Shrekkin’ to Trekkin’ Feb & March ICE ICE BABY
Trekking: Oh boy, this has been quite an amazing few months. I don’t want to spoil travel blogs but there has been heaps of mountain activity as of late. In February, I didn’t complete any “treks” but had a blast in an ice climbing class in the whites. I had…
Music Review
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Nostalbum Review #3 London Calling
This wasn’t meant to be a fitness blog, folks. Let’s put on the “way back” glasses and dip back into the Clash’s seminal 1978 release, London Calling. Staying true to the “nostalbum”: theme, this is a disc that was in heavy rotation in the home stereo in my childhood woodstove-warmed…
Shrekkin’ to Trekkin’ Jan. 2024
While I longed to stay in Mexico and revive hopes of being a lifelong expat- fitness was calling me back north. As expected getting back into the swing of things after vaca was a challenge but for those who know me my persistence for fitness can be uncanny. Trekking: I’ve…
Oaxaca Te Amo
I was never supposed to live in China because Oaxaca was on the docket and a signed & sealed agreement (but not yet delivered) back in 2007. The study abroad program I was to attend was ultimately canceled due to protest (ahem, military police) violence against striking teachers that had…
From Shrekkin’ to Trekkin’- 2023 Wrap Up
Pardon the delay folks, if it wasn’t clear I spent much of December in Mexico so now I’m playing catchup. With this year being hell on a personal and mental front, I’d never been one to let life make me forsake my physical and fitness goals. I set out a…
A Conversation with Taiwanese Human Rights Activists Paul & Mary Lin and Hsing-Chung Wang of New School For Democracy
2011 Archive- Posted to celebrate recent Taiwanese elections! On a Saturday evening in Taipei I struck up a conversation with a Taiwanese couple sitting across from me on the long metro ride from the Danshui station. After some small talk in Chinese and introducing myself as an NGO worker in…
Diving in Cenotes and Spending C-Notes, A Trip to Tulum, Mexico
On a dive in Cuba back in the good ol’ Obama years I fell in with a group of Portuguese divers. These were good times for the forgotten Caribbean Islands as locals were elated with talks of potential peace, a baseball game between Miami and Havana and speaking, “tu presidente…